On to week 4....

Week 4 pick-up was last Thursday:

1 lb garlic chive linguine

1 package Italian Sausage Links 

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb spinach

1 head napa cabbage 

Broccoli Florets or carrots (depends how the broccoli yields after the cold)

1 gallon apple cider

1 quarter peck apples

3# sweet potatoes

2 ct winter squash*

1 candy onion

1 red onion

1 bag leaf lettuce, 1/2 lb

1 dz eggs

* there will be assorted squash.  Most will be dark orange hubba hubba, a baby hubbard squash, or buttercup, which is a dark green/brown with a "cap" on the top, which kind of looks like a turban.  Both are great roasted and pureed or used to stuff and serve as a meal. 

I made week 3's acorn squash and the BLT's with week 3's tomato and week 4's lettuce.

Then (you may notice a pattern) I didn't cook again until Sunday. After a long weekend that involved gymnastics, kindergarten flag football (really just five year olds maybe chasing the football), getting our Christmas tree, and another Brown's loss...we headed over to mom's for steaks on the grill.

Our fresh fork sides included steamed broccoli and grilled napa cabbage.

When I saw the napa cabbage I had no idea what to do with it. I kind of resigned myself to the fact that it may wilt away in the fridge. Then I recalled a grilled romaine salad a friend ordered while out to dinner several months ago. This looked a little like a romaine heart and sturdy enough to stand up to the heat of the grill. Brushed with some olive oil, salt and pepper.....amazing! Even my dad ate it. Which is saying A LOT.

Monday:

While researching what to do with more winter squash I found a recipe courtesy of Emeril for squash stuffed with italian sausage, etc. Perfect! I adapted his recipe for taste and proportion.

Baked Squash stuffed with Italian Sausage and Pasta:

2 Squash, halved and cleaned
2 Italian sausage links, casings removed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup sliced red onion
2-4 cups of your preferred pasta sauce
6 oz elbow macaroni
4 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Season squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet flesh side up. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan. Cover with foil and bake until tender. This time will vary widely based on the type of squash. Mine took about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

In a large sauté pan brown sausage and onions over medium heat, about 8 minutes. Turn off heat and add pasta sauce, pasta and cheese. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. 

Spoon pasta mixture into each squash. Bake for about 20 minutes, until heated through and cheese melts. 

The squash  (Hubba Hubba? Who comes up with these names?)

The sauce (found at Heinens, from Aurora, OH)

The meal

Served with fresh fork lettuce topped with remaining mozzarella

These were little squash bowls of deliciousness. And to think I used to buy gourds strictly for decoration purposes. Not so any more! I can't wait to try variations on this theme in the future.

Hoping to make pizzas sometime this week, and I can't wait to try the linguine. 

Tree is decorated, now off to wrap a few presents. Yes, I like to pretend I'm on top of things!

Playing Catch-Up

After returning from New York there were still several things to use up from the first few weeks of Fresh Fork deliveries.

Eggs

Bacon (purchased extra at last pick-up)

Acorn squash

Purple potatoes

Tomatoes

Parsnips

Sauerkraut

Turtle beans
Breakfast sausage (also purchased at last pick-up, frozen)
Pizza dough (frozen)

The apples are always gone within a day or two, the cheddar, sprouts and cabbage were eaten in New York.

Sunday: steaks, swiss chard, mashed purple potatoes and parsnips

The parsnips added incredible flavor to the mashed potatoes. I simply simmered the root veggies in salted water, drained...

And smashed with some butter and milk. 

The only problem was we had A TON of leftover potatoes.

I love Pinterest. Yes, it's an easy way to waste a few hours a day. But sometimes it's also divine inspiration. Take Monday for example. I have a bowl full of mashed potatoes in the fridge, bacon in the freezer and nothing planned for dinner. I stumble across a recipe for mashed potato pancakes. Lightbulb...Breakfast for dinner! Bacon, eggs and potato pancakes.

The bonus was that I also had the cheese in the fridge, so all I had to buy were some green onions.

Recipe:

3 cups chilled mashed potatoes

2/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp chopped green onions

1 egg, lightly beaten

Flour

Veg oil, for frying

Salt and pepper

Stir together potatoes, cheese, scallions, and egg. Add flour tablespoon by tablespoon until mixture is not too wet, nor too crumbly. This will vary depending on how much milk, butter, etc were used in original mashed potatoes.

Using your hands, divide mixture into 12 portions. Roll each into a ball and then flatten into a 1/2 inch pancake. 

Place about 1/2 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper Ina shallow dish. Dredge each pancake in the flour. 

Heat 3-4 tbsp of oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the pancakes, in batches, until they are golden brown. Add oil to pan as needed. Transfer pancakes to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt. 

These were surprisingly good. I made mine a bit too thick, but they were still crispy. Like a little fried hash brown with our bacon and eggs. 

Dinner out Tuesday (Greenhouse Tavern before Corey Smith concert!)
Lizard Wednesday before 2nd grade Holiday Concert/Torture

Thursday:
What's the best thing to do with left-over bacon? Ha! Trick question again...everything. But, BLT's are at the top of that list.

About that acorn squash that's been hanging around for a month...

1 Acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste.

Preheat oven to 325
Place squash, cut side up on baking sheet
Mix butter, syrup, sugar, salt and pepper together in a bowl, spread mixture over cavity and cut side of squash.
Bake for about 50 minutes.

Like a little dessert after our BLT's.



Still need to use:

Sauerkraut
Turtle Beans
Pizza dough
Breakfast sausage

Week Four pick-up was also Thursday...contents to be posted soon. (There was a half pound bag of lettuce, some of which was used on the BLT's - bonus!)

Thanksgiving in New York

It's a miracle we made it to New York at all considering this...

The entire Pennsylvania turnpike. In a snow/sleet/freezing rain storm. We finally arrived in Brooklyn at around 1 am. Mom and dad waited up for us and helped us unload the truck. No small feat considering we had 4 adults and 3 small children packed in there. 

It rained on and off most of Wednesday, but did get to walk the half mile to prospect park and the farmers market set up there. Jamie bought our 18 pound turkey from a local New York poultry farm the week before, so we just needed some rolls and sweet potatoes. Pizza for dinner Wednesday (along with half of America, I'm sure.)

While we took our kids to the Macy's parade Thursday morning (many thanks to our personal guide, Hemali!!!), Jamie prepped dinner. The bird dry brined in the fridge for 2 days and it was fantastic. 

Unfortunately this was the only picture I took of any food. 

Fresh Fork menu item:

Crispy sautéed Brussels sprouts tossed with wilted cabbage seasoned with cumin and turmeric. Holy amazing. 

My contribution was bourbon mashed sweet potatoes, topped with candied pecans. 

After dinner scotch tasting put us all out of commission.

Leftovers for dinner Friday after a day of touristy shopping on 5th avenue. On Black Friday. Not the brightest idea but it was fun! 

We ate so much delicious food (Dinosaur BBQ! Brooklyn bagels with bacon scallion cream cheese!), and our kids got to experience so many cool things. After a delightfully uneventful, sunny drive home Saturday, we can't wait do do it again next year! 

Why, oh why do we torture ourselves every Sunday? At least the roast beef was good.

Sunday, November 24th. I won't rehash the Brown's loss to the Steelers. We almost cried when Weeden came back as our QB.

On to the food...

3 pound round tip cut of beef in week 3's bag. I thought about making a slow cooker pot roast, but wanted to try something different. Plus, this cut of meet lends itself well to a medium rare roast beef. Salt, pepper, sear...

Oven roasted to medium rare...

Sautéed the mustard greens, roasted the remaining fingerling potatoes from week one, red wine pan sauce, and...

As I've found typical with grass fed beef it wasn't melt in your mouth tender, but the incredible flavor of this roast more than made up for that.

Monday....dinner out because Tuesday after school we were leaving for Thanksgiving in New York with my brother Jamie and his wife Hemali.

I took the Brussels sprouts and cabbage to New York...Jamie worked his magic with those.

Thanksgiving recap next.

Week 3 pick up and the Best BBQ sammich I've ever had.

We ate at Danny boys last night with our friends and the minions (this is what I currently call our kids and their friends.... we think they work for us but they actually run the place). As usual it didn't disappoint. Doesn't hurt that the kids can sit and play checkers and we can talk for actual minutes without someone whining. Or shoving their sibling to the ground. Olivia might be small, but she's scrappy.

It was also hot as shit in there. We felt bad for the staff, but at least they could go stand in the cooler for a minute. #firstworldproblem, i know. Sorry, I hate hashtags but couldn't resist. Last time, I promise.

Onward...

Thursday...

One of our favorite things to make in the vitamix are green smoothies. Shrek shakes, if you will. Thanks mom.
So this morning I threw the rest of the kale in there with some frozen bananas, frozen berries, an apple and some OJ and water.
If you ever have bananas that are about to turn, peel and freeze them for smoothies or ice cream.

Before:

 After:

Today was also the last day of weekly fresh fork deliveries. Every other week from now until May.
I'm both a little sad and relieved. It has been exciting to see what will be in our bag each week and the weekly grocery store trips have dramatically decreased. But, it has also been a little difficult to keep up with and not waste anything. #firstworldproblem
Ok, I lied. Last time for real.

Week 3 bag contents:

1 grassfed beef roast (round tip)
1 bunch parsnips
2 frozen pizza dough balls
1 wedge Hulls Trace Aged Cheddar
1 stalk brussels sprouts
1 head green cabbage
1 quarter peck gold-rush apples
1 bunch mustard greens
3# bag purple potatoes
1 candy onion
1 bunch radishes
2 slicing hoophouse tomatoes

We had a good amount of pulled pork left over. I also had a jar of Heinen's Two Brothers BBQ sauce. I've made my own sauce before and it's yummy and everything. But this stuff is in a jar and IT IS GOOD! It's also all natural and Heinen's is local. So win-win.

What goes great with BBQ? Trick question. Everything. But, I had a whole head of cabbage to use - coleslaw! Enter Thomas Keller once again.

The tome:

 I've never made anything of his that isn't fabulous. He is all about the details, and that usually involves using every last pot, pan and cooking implement in my kitchen. It's always worth it. But this coleslaw? I had almost everything to make it and it was simple!

Adapted recipe (because 8 cups of cabbage is way too much!)

4 cups green cabbage
1 shredded carrot
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Dressing:

1/3 cup sour cream
2-3 TBSP mayo
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 TBSP granulated sugar
1/2 tsp celery seeds
2 TBSP champagne vinegar
salt

Combine dressing ingredients, whisk to blend. Combine cabbage,carrots, sesame seeds and enough dressing to coat the slaw. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
So, we have the bread, the BBQ pork, the slaw. Dinner. Right? Not so fast says George, "Put a fried egg on all that goodness."

Boom

The Sammich

So, the turtle beans and acorn squash and sauerkraut didn't happen. Can you blame us? I'm struggling through a food coma right now. Those will keep for awhile, and have many possibilities.

Had to buy:
Buns
Sesame seeds

Hosting some friends for the Browns game Sunday. Why? Because we live in Cleveland. And that is what we do.

Cider Braised Pork Shoulder and Greens. And Baby Food.

Tuesday

Not a huge fan of pork here (exception = bacon, prosciutto). Pork Tenderloin? No thanks. Pork chops? Blah. We had a lot of pulled pork BBQ while living in Georgia. It was good. Still, I just couldn't get that excited about the 3 pound shoulder in week 2's bag.

Enter my sister Kate to save the day. (She and her husband Tom are currently residing in my gracious parents' basement until they find a house on the West Side...the Best Side!)

Ok, back on track. My mom and dad also joined the Fresh Fork CSA - Kate found an incredible recipe for pork braised in apple cider. Google is your friend! So is Epicurious.

Recipe here: Cider braised pork shoulder with carmelized onions

Ingredients purchased for tonight:

Shallot
2 Onions


Searing:

The appearance and flavor of this pork shoulder were unlike any I've had from a grocery store.

Plated:

Turnip greens and kale, again sauteed with bacon rendering, garlic and salt. Dash of wine. MY KIDS EAT GREENS! Not going to lie...they got a fist bump and dessert.
Simple and amazing. Noticing a theme here...few ingredients, locally sourced foods, thoughtful preparation. No fail. Except...

That dollop placed carefully beside the braised goodness?

Celery root and heirloom carrots simmered in home made chicken stock and pureed in my beloved Vitamix.  Baby Food. It wasn't terrible. In fact, Will ate all of his. It was just baby food.

Still, I can't complain. In fact I'm overjoyed. We are eating local, healthy, delicious, whole foods. And Olivia is eating vegetables! Halleluja! 

Still need to use:
     -the rest of the kale
     -turtle beans
     -2 acorn squash
     -2# sauerkraut (any takers?)
     -some leftover pulled pork
     -a few eggs from week 1

Plan:
     - This week:  Green smoothie with the kale and some frozen fruit in the freezer
     - Thursday:  Pulled pork sliders with BBQ sauce, acorn squash sauteed with the black turtle beans,                                 sauerkraut on the side


Probably eating out tomorrow. Like I said, sometimes Mama needs a break.

Week 2 - Pork shoulder, Greens, Celeriac? And Some Week 1 Leftovers.

First of all, I don't need to eat frozen pierogies again for another ten years (if ever). That was Tuesday...between eating out (B Spot!!!), dinner at mom's, more eating out, a party that involved beer pong (officially WAY too old for that) I don't think we cooked again until Sunday. If you can call it that...George wanted the rest of the frozen pierogies, blah. I put together a salad with week 2's lettuce and week 1's sweet peppers. Simple and yum. I picked up our week 2 basket Thursday, washed and prepped the greens and... haven't touched any of it until today.

Week 2 bag

1 pork shoulder roast, 

1 2# bag sauerkraut

1 head jumbo white stem bok choy

1 bunch kale

1 sleeve assorted head lettuce

1 # heirloom carrots (different pastel colors)

1 bunch turnip greens

2 ct acorn squash, 1 green and 1 carnival

1 gallon apple cider

1-2 bulbs celery root (celeriac)

1 # black turtle beans

Monday Leftovers...
 The chicken, broccoli, sweet peppers and beans from week 1, bok choy from week 2. Sauteed in sesame oil, served with rice and peanut sauce.  I DID NOT HAVE TO GO TO THE GROCERY STORE TODAY! (Also, the purple beans turn green when cooked. Cool.)

Voila...

Olivia is now a fan of carrots...I sliced up a few of the heirlooms for school snack today. Passed her muster...miracle of miracles. Also now a fan of lettuce and cucumber. Might she eat a salad one day soon??? I may faint.

I've been rationing the apple cider to braise the pork shoulder. (Will could probably drink a gallon in 2 days). It is REALLY good. My chef brother suggested roasting the the acorn squash in some of the trimmed pork fat and tossing with the turtle beans. I'm also excited about the turnip greens and kale. May need to invite some friends over for dinner - so. much. food!

Sauerkraut, meh. I think George likes it. We'll see.

Week 1 winter CSA

This week's bag contents are...

1 Whole Chicken, approx 5 lbs 

2# bag fingerling potatoes

1 bulb garlic

1 candy onion

1 bunch swiss chard

1 bag mixed baby lettuce, 0.5 lbs

1 bunch beets with tops

1 bunch celery

1 bag purple filet beans

1 head broccoli

1 quart baby sweet peppers

1 bunch carrots with tops

1 dozen eggs

1 quarter peck gala apples

4 oz pumpkin quark (a spreadable cream cheese)

I washed, prepped and stored the ingredients on Friday. The broccoli and beans went into the freezer since they likely wouldn't be used within a few days. The whole chicken came frozen, I put that into the fridge to thaw. 

Then, girls night out to dinner since the boys are freezing their asses off at Indian Guides camp!

Saturday:

I am officially obsessed with the pumpkin quark - best bagel and cream cheese I've ever had.

The mixed baby lettuce looked so fresh - it made a great salad for lunch. I'll try not to let the rest go to waste, but a half pound of lettuce is a lot!

We had a pot-luck sort of dinner with my sister and friends. My contribution was a beet appetizer (Thanks to my brother, Jamie for the recipe! It's a bonus to have a chef in the family). The beets were roasted in foil for about 2 hours, then sliced and topped with a mixture of cottage cheese (was supposed to be ricotta, oops!) and lemon zest/juice,  orange zest garnished the cheese, drizzled this with honey (local from last years fresh fork truck) and finally a sprinkle of slivered, toasted almonds. It sounds a little gross but is so yum! 

Needed from the store:

Ricotta

Lemon

Orange

Almonds

The beets:

Sunday:

The eggs for breakfast - bright orange yolks, fried in bacon fat, eaten on top of a slice of toast. So simple and so good.

Traveled out to the country for a clam bake. Euclid fish puts together an incredible spread. I promised to bring something - one of my favorite side dishes is greens and this was a great opportunity to use what was in the bag before it wilted. I combined the broccoli greens, chard and beet greens - sauteed with garlic in bacon fat (yes, I travel with my own little jar), added a little white wine, salt and red pepper flake. Our Georgia friends would have approved! 

Nothing needed from the store for this one!

Monday:

Hello roast chicken tonight!  

Other ingredients needed: 

2 leeks 

2 turnips 

2 parsnips 

thyme - from my garden

If you've never roasted a chicken before, or even if you have...you MUST try Thomas Keller's roast chicken on root veggies (from Ad Hoc at Home). He is all about the details, and that's what makes his recipes so fool proof and fabulous.
 I absolutely love parsnips, they are even sweeter than carrots when roasted. So I substitute these for the rutabaga's, because who likes rutabagas?

Adapted recipe:

one 4/12 pound chicken
6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
6 thyme sprigs
2 large leeks
2-3 parsnips, peeled, trimmed and cut in half
2 tennis-ball sized turnips
4 medium carrots, peeled, trim and cut in half
1 small yellow onion, trimmed, leaving root ends intact, cut into quarters
10 fingerling potatoes
1/2 cup canola oil
4 TBSP unsalted butter at room temp

Remove chicken from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 475 F
Remove neck and innards. Generously season cavity of chicken with salt and pepper. Add 3 of the garlic cloves and 5 sprigs of thyme. Truss the chicken. (I love this cook book because he has step by step photo instructions for this step and many other techniques)
Cut dark green leaves from top of leeks. Trim off and discard any darkened outer layers. Trim the root ends, cutting around them on a 45 degree angle. Slit the leeks lengthwise almost in half, starting 1/2 inch above the root ends. Rinse the leeks well under warm water.
Cut off both ends of turnips. Stand on one end and cut away the skin. Cut into 3/4 inch wedges.
Combine all vegetables and remaining garlic cloves and thyme sprig in a large bowl. Toss with 1/4 cup of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread veggies in a large cast iron skillet or roasting pan.
Rub remaining oil over the chicken. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken in the center of the veggies.
Cut butter in 4 or 5 pieces and place over the chicken breast.
Put in the oven and roast for 25 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400 and roast for an additional 45 minutes or until the temperature registers 160 F in the meatiest portion of the bird and the juices run clear.
Transfer chicken to a carving board and let rest for 20 mins.
Let veggies cook longer if necessary.
Carve chicken and serve over vegetables.


My finished product:

Tuesday:
Chicken stock. The leftover chicken bones and roasted veggies make the best chicken stock. I added some of the fresh fork celery, thyme and parsley from my garden, a bay leaf and a few peppercorns. It's simmering as I type and the house smells amazing!
I'll cool it and freeze it for soup another time. I recently read a good way to freeze cooked chicken is to shred it and add a bit of chicken stock - we'll see how this turns out when it thaws for use later.

Tonight, pierogies. We haven't had these in so long...and it kind of reminds me of college - we ate them A LOT). I don't know about you, but my college diet included unhealthy amounts of pizza rolls, pierogies and Stouffer's mac and cheese.

I hope to make a stir fry with remaining frozen veggies, sweet peppers and chicken later this week.

I think we did pretty well! We love apples, those were gone pretty quickly. The only things left in the fridge = some lettuce, eggs and the pumpkin cream cheese (which will be gone by the end of the week).

Can't wait to pick up the next delivery on Thursday...

Introducing...My Little Food Project!

Eating Locally...

I am so so SO excited to pick up my first Fresh Fork CSA bag later today! It didn't take much to convince my husband that we should sign up. He'll try anything I make, and do the dishes too. He did raise an eyebrow at the cost...you must pay up front for 15 weeks of food deliveries. It averages out to around $45 per delivery. Once a week for the first three weeks, then every other week until May. But, I told him, this will save money! And make us healthy! And more adventurous eaters! But....will it?

Thus starts my little food project. We will try our best to use everything in our bag each delivery, hopefully cutting down on grocery store visits...and costs. And improving our usually heavy-food laden winter diet.

I will write about what we get each week, what I make, and include any items that I need to buy from the grocery store to make said meals. I'll provide recipes (or links to people who write better food blogs with fancy pictures) for my favorites.

This won't be a comprehensive breakdown of what we all eat for every meal during the week. I will include meal info only if it comes from our CSA bag!

Also, we will not stop going out to eat. We've tried that before. I can tell you that it doesn't work for us. Two kids with school, homework, activities...there are nights where I AM JUST NOT GOING TO COOK!

Ok, with all that out of the way, I hope to discover new, healthy recipes and reduce our grocery store visits. And one of the best things about the Fresh Fork CSA is that everything is from local, Ohio farms - with rare exceptions. Even these exceptions are within Ohio or close by in Pennsylvania.

Coming soon...week 1!